


A Soft Interlude

by Hyrulehearts1123



Series: Midsummer's Children [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Angst, bucket loads of angst, the fluff is coming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-23 04:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9641336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyrulehearts1123/pseuds/Hyrulehearts1123
Summary: Gabriel sat in the kitchen, feeding Adam a bottle as Castiel tried his hardest to calm Dean down. He'd known that the boy still had issues concerning his mother's death, especially with what his father had forced upon him, but he hadn't expected things to be quite as bad as they were.Over the last week, Dean had had nightmares nearly every night, and only one of those had been so bad that Sam hadn't been able to calm it, which was the only reason that he'd known about them.The nightmares had also pushed Sam to his limit, utterly exhausting his impressive psychic powers, which is why the boy was still asleep after nearly three hours.Nope, never mind. The amount of noise coming from the bedroom upstairs told him that Sam had just woken up, and was stumbling around as he slowly began to make his way down the stairs.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. So, I ended up getting sick, and as a result I wasn't able to quite do what I wanted with this. So, I'm gonna split it into two parts just to give myself a bit of a break.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and fingers crossed, the second half should be up at some point next week.
> 
>  
> 
> THIS WORK IS POSTED TO ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN BY THE AUTHOR, AND ONLY TO ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN. IF YOU FIND THIS OR ANY OF MY STORIES POSTED ON ANY OTHER SITE, IT HAS BEEN STOLEN AND POSTED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.

**A Soft Interlude**

 

* * *

 

 

Gabriel sat in the kitchen, feeding Adam a bottle as Castiel tried his hardest to calm Dean down. He'd known that the boy still had issues concerning his mother's death, especially with what his father had forced upon him, but he hadn't expected things to be quite as bad as they were.

Over the last week, Dean had had nightmares nearly every night, and only one of those had been so bad that Sam hadn't been able to calm it, which was the only reason that he'd known about them.

The nightmares had also pushed Sam to his limit, utterly exhausting his impressive psychic powers, which is why the boy was still asleep after nearly three hours.

Nope, never mind. The amount of noise coming from the bedroom upstairs told him that Sam had just woken up, and was stumbling around as he slowly began to make his way down the stairs.

Making his way towards the stairs quietly, he shook his head at the boy, gesturing for him to go back to his new room. _“It would be wise to leave them be little one, your brother has much that only his new friend can help him through.”_

Sam frowned, but turned around anyway, latching onto the connection instead of attempting to establish his own. _“Ok...”_ He yawned, reaching up and grabbing Gabe's hand, and allowing the being to lea him back to the bedroom. _“Who's De's friend?”_

Gabe smiled at how the boy had decided to trust him after such a short amount of time. He figured it was only a matter of time though, seeing as he was capable of feeling at least some of the angel's intentions at any time, and feeling nothing but good intentions towards a situation would definitely help one be more trusting.

“Well Kiddo, that's where things get a bit complicated.” He started, setting a now snoozing Adam down in his crib before helping Sam to sit on the bed, and kneeling in front of him. “You see, Dean's new friend is an angel like me, but he's too young. Do you remember how I told you guys that I knew each and every one of my siblings before I left home?” He asked, and smiled a bit when the boy nodded.

“ _You said you knew all of them, even though you couldn't count how many there were, but you loved them all anyway, right?”_ Sam asked, eyes filled with confusion. _“So, is he a new one?”_

Gabe chuckled softly before nodding his head. He'd seriously underestimated both of the older boys' intellect when he'd taken them in, and now they were figuring things out faster than he could find ways to try to explain them. “I don't know how you do it, but you're right. Dad said he was done making more of the Little Ones a good while before I left, and I personally raised over half of the last batch. That was over five thousand years ago, but Castiel, the one Dean found, is barely pushing three hundred. See why I'm so confused yet?”

Sam nodded again, before closing his eyes and mentally humming in thought. After a moment he shrugged, and flopped back so he was laying down. _“I dunno Gabe, maybe your Dad knew De would need a friend, and made Cas for him?”_ He suggested, causing the angel to laugh.

“Who knows kiddo? What I do know though, is that no one up top is looking for him, and he said himself that he wasn't exactly welcome there. Looks like he' gonna be staying with us for a while. You ok with that?” He asked, slightly curious to hear what Sam would say, knowing that he'd been in a similar situation barely a week ago.

Sam sat up quickly, frowning deeply, and eyes filled with anger. _“Of course I'm ok with it!”_ He snapped, the volume he was projecting growing louder for the first time since Gabe had taken him and his brothers in. _“No one deserves to be stuck where they aren't wanted or loved just because one person may or might not be ok with it! It's not fair!”_ His anger faded at that, and his stunning hazel eyes filled with tears as he curled in on himself. _“It's not fair...”_ He repeated, hiding his face as the tears began to fall.

Almost expecting the reaction that he got from Sam, Gabe stood up, and with a gentle touch, carefully unfolded the boy's body, and lifted him into his arms. “Hey hey hey, you need to calm down kiddo. None of you are going to have to leave, you hear me? I only asked what I did because I value your opinion, and want both you and your brother to be aware of things that are going on in this house, alright?”

Sam merely nodded, before hiding his face in Gabriel's neck, silently sobbing out his sorrow, while his mind was practically screaming every small, seemingly insignificant thing that had plagued him until that moment.

Sorrow that he'd never get to know his mother, or see her the way that Dean had,

Anger that their father was never around, constantly leaving Dean to look after a child while he himself still was so young.

Frustration that Adam had come along, and added to Dean's already monumental work-load.

All of the pain and confusion that his powers had brought him, even if they had given him a way to talk with Dean, and now Gabriel.

Gabe closed his eyes, fighting back tears of his own at just how much pain Sam had experienced, even though there was nothing that he was capable of doing.

One could argue that the solution was simple, and that all he needed to do was to simply remove the painful memories, and leave the boy with the happy ones instead. Except, the boy had been in such horrid pain for as long as he could remember, and to remove the painful memories would leave him with exactly six months that he could remember.

Sitting on the bed, Gabriel reached out slightly with his Grace, and a sad smile found it's way to his face when he felt that both Dean and Castiel were asleep, completely worn out by the emotional day they'd both had. “At least those two are peaceful.” He commented quietly, rubbing Sam's back in an attempt to help him calm down. Thinking back to what Sam had said earlier, he had to admit that it was a valid possibility.

All angels were created with a purpose after all, so who was to say that young Castiel wasn't created to be with the brothers? But even that raised more questions than it answered. What he'd told Sam had been the truth; no angels had been created in nearly six thousand years, but there was no mistaking the grace that made up the small, black haired boy sleeping downstairs.

That was yet another mystery that had no solution or answer in sight. Castiel wasn't inside a vessel, like most angels needed to be, instead, the fledgling seemed as if his body was in fact part of his true form, or at the very least, the body was custom made for him.

With far more questions than answers, Gabriel settled in, patting Sam's back gently as the boy slowly stopped crying, and began falling asleep. He'd try to find out at least some of the answers he needed after all the boys woke up. He was capable of waiting until then.

 

* * *

 

 

As he moved around the kitchen, working on making a late lunch for the boys, Gabriel wasn't surprised that Sam was super clingy, refusing to be set down at all.

Not that it affected the angel at all, as the four year-old barely weighed thirty pounds, and was the size of the average three year-old. The boy wasn't a struggle to hold, or even difficult to work around. Adam sat in a high-chair at the table, with a teething ring and several texture toys to play with as he babbled and gurgled while learning more about the world around him.

Figuring that he couldn't do much actual cooking with Sam clinging to him, Gabe had decided that sandwiches would likely be the easiest option for the boys, as well as some carrots and celery on the side.

Placing the plates of food on the table softly, Gabriel sighed softly, rubbing Sam's back gently. “Alright Kiddo, are you gonna be ok for a few minutes while I go get Dean and Cassie, or are you gonna keep being a cling-on?” He asked, not all that surprised when Sam merely tightened his arms around his neck while shaking his head. Rolling his eyes at how predictable the boy was, Gabe adjusted how Sam sat on his hip, and after a quick glance to make sure that Adam would be alright for a moment, made his way to the living room.

Dean and Castiel were still cuddled together on the couch, whispering to each other. Castiel seemed to be doing almost all of the talking, doing his best to keep Dean from thinking too hard about painful things.

“Come on boys, lunch is ready.” Gabe called softly, trying to catch their attention without startling them. Castiel looked up at him, before whispering something to Dean, and sitting up, pulling Dean along with him.

As they all entered the kitchen, Sam squirmed, silently asking to get down. Once Gabe had set him down, he rushed over to where Dean had sat down, and climbed into the older boy's lap, pouting and glaring slightly at Castiel.

Obviously, Sam wasn't willing to share his brother, despite having proposed the possibility that Castiel had been created specifically for Dean. Looks like someone didn't quite realize the implications of what that would mean.

Rolling his eyes at Sam, and also at Castiel and Dean's confused faces, Gabe smiled as he remembered feeling the exact same way ages and ages ago when he'd suddenly had to share his big brothers with literally thousands of others. Maybe if he were to give Sam something that he didn't have to share with anyone else……..

Seeing his chance when Adam started wiggling due to a wet diaper, and Gabriel took it. “Well, looks like somebody needs a diaper change.” Picking up Adam, who was getting more and more agitated at the length of time he was sitting in a dirty diaper, Gabe gave the boys a pointed look. “I want all of you to eat, understand?” Waiting until the boys all nodded, he smiled at them, walking around to the side of the table the boys were on, and ruffled all their hair. “I'll be back in a few minutes. Be good, and no fighting, you hear me?”

When all the boys nodded once more, Gabe ruffled Sam's hair one final time, and left the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long to write. You remember how in chapter 1, I mentioned I was kinda sick? Well, at the time, I had what seemed to be just a sinus infection. No big deal, nothing I haven't dealt with 1,000 times before.
> 
> Aaaaaand then it turned out to be the flu.
> 
> So yeah. Blame the flu for why this chapter took almost a week longer than I anticipated. At least I'm getting better, and got this done.

After he'd changed Adam's diaper, Gabriel stayed upstairs in the boys' bedroom for several minutes. What he had in mind would take plenty of creativity and imagination, and while he wasn't in short supply of either of those, if he wanted to get anywhere close to the goal that he'd set for himself, he'd need to stretch those talents to the limits.

“Now, what would you like little one?” He quietly asked Adam, who seemed quite content to ignore him in favor of attempting to fit his own fist into his mouth. After another moment's consideration, Gabriel smiled softly.

Gathering his grace, he started waving his hands in front of the child. As if like magic, a stuffed dog began to appear, starting with the head, and continuing until everything was there. From soft, luxurious light brown fur, floppy ears, and a velvety jade green bow around the neck.

Adam giggled, pulling his hand out of his mouth and clapping clumsily. Reaching out, he fell forward and landed on the stuffed animal, rolling onto his back and gurgling in joy as he started chewing on the dog's ear.

Laughing at the child's theatrics, Gabriel raised his hand, and began snapping his fingers rapidly. He had a lot of stuffed animals to create, and not a lot of time to do it.

  


* * *

  


  


“Alright kiddos, when you're all done with lunch, I've got somethin' I wanna show ya!” Gabriel announced, grinning mischievously as he re-entered the kitchen.

The boys were waiting on Sam, who was still on Dean's lap, and seemingly refusing to eat his vegetables.

“Samuel, you need to eat your food. Gabriel would not have left it otherwise.” Castiel was trying to reason with the child, and having very little success at it. Looking up at the figure in the doorway, he frowned softly before pointing to Sam. “He does not want to eat his carrots.”

Gabe nodded in understanding, before walking over to kneel next to Sam and Dean. “Sammy, look at me kiddo. If you don't wanna eat the carrots now, that's fine. You hear me?” At Castiel's startled gasp, Gabe raised his hand. “If you just want to be done now, that's cool. More power to you kid, but you'll have to finish them later as a snack, or with diner. Agreed?”

Sam nodded, pouting as he reached towards Gabriel. With a soft sigh, the angel picked up the boy, nly to frown deeply. “That's one mighty strong fever you've got going there Little One. When did this start?” He asked absentmindedly, settling the tiny body on his hip before placing a hand on his forhead. “Feels about a hundred and one or so. Probably because of the psychic exhaustion, still gonna keep an eye on it though….” He trailed off, before turning back to the others sitting at the table.

Dean looked like someone had kicked his puppy, only remaining in the chair because he hadn't been told he could get up. Cas on the other hand was confused, constantly shifting his gaze between Dean and Gabriel as he tried to figure out what was happening.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Gabe walked over to the boys, running a hand through Dean's hair. “Here's how this is gonna work. I've still got something to show you all upstairs, regardless of the fact that Sam's got a fever. How about we all go up there and see what the surprise is, sound good to you guys?”

The boys glanced between each-other for a moment, before Dean nodded. Standing up quickly, he walked over to Gabriel and started tugging at the hem of his shirt. Knowing that the boy was getting more and more anxious, Gabriel nodded to Castiel and started walking towards the stairs. “It's up in you kids' room. There's more than enough for all of you, so no hording. If you want to horde some of them anyway, there's still enough to do that, just don't take someone else's stuff, got it?”

Standing in front of the door to the boys' room, he waited just a moment to build a touch of suspense, before slowly reaching out to open the door.

  


* * *

  


  


Dean froze as the door to his and Sammy's -and Cas' too now, he guessed- bedroom opened, revealing a literal mountain of stuffed animals sitting in the center of the room.

Dogs, cats, bunnies, the list went on for miles. Almost every animal that Dean could think of was there, and even some that he'd never seen before, even in picture books. Distantly, he watched as Sammy was set down, and both he and Cas ran towards the plushies, digging through the pile to find what they wanted.

Trying his hardest not to cry, Dean turned towards Gabriel, one question clear on his face despite his silence.

Why?

Gabe knelt down next to Dean, placing his hands on his shoulders. “I know you don't really trust me, and I get it. The circumstances leading up to you and your brothers living here are shady at best, and I haven't had much time to prove myself to you yet, but I promised that I'd give you boys a proper childhood, and this is part of it.”

Dean sniffled, rubbing his eyes harshly in an attempt to get rid of the tears that were starting to fall. He just didn't get it, why did Gabe care so much? He'd only known Dean and his brother for like, a week, and now he was giving them a bajillion stuffed animals just because he wanted to?

Gabe smiled softly, looking almost sad as he moved one of his hands off of Dean's shoulder, and onto his cheek. “You'll understand someday. Now, how about you go find something you like from the pile? There's more than enough there for you to have whatever you want.”

Glancing towards the mountain of stuffed animals once more, Dean finally nodded, and slowly started walking over to the pile. Cas and Sam had moved away from the pile, and were setting up what looked like a picnic for a dozen or so animals, leaving a clear, undisturbed path towards the pile. Yeah, wow. The pile was a lot bigger that it looked. Wait, what was that sitting right on top…..?

Rigt on top of the pile, just out of reach of Sammy, was a giant, fluffy wolf.

Eyes widening, and smiling in delight, Dean carefully grabbed the wolf from the pile before walking over to his bed and climbing onto it, holding the wolf close as he did so, running his fingers through the super soft fur.

He knew that Gabe was still watching him, and was probably worried because he hadn't said anything since Cas had gotten there that morning, but Sammy could explain that later. He always explained it better that he could, and it didn't cause another quiet day if Sammy explained.

Gabe would probably understand though, Dean decided as he rubbed at his wolf's ears. After all, it wasn't Dean's fault that his words just got stuck in his throat whenever he thought about his momma for too long, no matter what dad had tried to say in the past.

Shoving those thoughts out of his head, Dean smiled as Sammy climbed up next to him, showing off his new stuffed puppy. He'd be quiet for today, but tomorrow he'd try his hardest to talk with Gabe about what had happened in the past. There were things that Dean needed to get off his chest, and the sooner that happened, the better it would be for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to my good friend EliseDawn for some help with figuring out a few different things, including going over ideas with me, and also helping me to chose what stuffed animal to give Dean. Thanks man!

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr at hyrulehearts1123.tumblr.com for shenanigans, fun facts about the writing process, and generally lots of craziness. It's awesome.


End file.
